Setting

Mrs E Maxted Headteacher St Saviour's Church of England Primary School Herne Hill Road London, SE24 0AY

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Primary School

Following my visit with Lynne Kauffman to your school on 4-5 March 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Primary School

The inspection was the fifth monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in September 2013. The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Primary School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Primary School

The school is making reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures.

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Primary School

The school may appoint newly qualified teachers.

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Primary School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Lambeth and the Diocese of Southwark.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Tribal Kings Orchard One Queen Street Bristol BS2 0HQ T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Email : christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com

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place in September 2013

 Improve the quality and effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by:  establishing effective systems for rigorously checking how well the school is doing, which include the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning and progress  ensuring that the outcomes of these checks are analysed, and strengths and areas for improvement identified and acted upon through incisive improvement planning  using pupil achievement information more effectively to track and analyse the progress of the different groups of pupils, particularly boys  assessing the impact of the various types of support given to pupils  providing teachers with clear steps for developing their skills and checking that they are followed up to make sure they work  strengthening the contribution of subject leaders to improving teaching and learning.

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place in September 2013

 Develop the skills of the governing body, especially in understanding information about pupils’ attainment and progress and the quality of teaching, so that it can hold school leaders more effectively to account for the impact of their work. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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place in September 2013

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better by making sure that:  all teachers have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve  activities are carefully matched to pupils’ individual needs so that they are always challenging and involve pupils actively in learning  all staff ask pupils challenging and probing questions  all staff use teaching assistants fully to support pupils’ learning.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised documents. They met with the headteacher and the Chief Executive Officer of the Loughborough Federation of Schools. Meetings were also held with the senior leadership team, three middle leaders, teachers from the Early Years Foundation Stage and representatives of the school’s governing body. A meeting was also held with representatives of the local authority and Southwark Diocesan Board of Education. Inspectors spoke with pupils about their work and with parents. They carried out observations in lessons and looked at pupils’ work.

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Context

Since the last monitoring visit the assistant headteacher has commenced her maternity leave. She has been temporarily replaced by an assistant headteacher from a school in the Loughborough Federation of Schools. The Year 4 teacher has left and been replaced by two supply teachers who are working together.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Children entered this Reception year with levels of development which were typically lower than those possessed by children in the previous year. This was particularly true of their social and emotional and physical development, and of their writing ability. Teachers have used accurate checks on children’s learning to plan activities which are well matched to their abilities and interests. As a result, they have made good progress. Just over half are on track to reach a good level of development by the time they are due to enter Year 1. This is broadly in line with 2014 national average levels of attainment.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Since the previous monitoring visit the proportion of more able pupils on track to exceed expected levels of attainment has continued to increase, particularly in reading and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils entitled to additional funding now achieve at levels which are much closer to those of other pupils, although some gaps remain. Boys in Year 6 are now achieving as well as girls in reading and mathematics, although they still do less well than girls in writing.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

The evidence collected by senior leaders demonstrates that some variations in achievement remain across the school. These variations exist between subjects, classes and groups of pupils. However, although boys still do less well than girls in some subjects and year groups, most are now achieving at or above the levels expected for their age. Evidence which senior leaders have gathered from pupil progress meetings with teachers suggests a decline in the proportion of pupils on track in some classes during the Autumn Term. The impact of cohort changes through the movement of pupils into and out of the school is a contributory factor to this decline.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs still make less progress than other pupils, given their starting points. However, their progress is gaining pace as a result of more effective checks which leaders are now making on the impact of the support these pupils receive.

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The quality of teaching

Teaching has improved throughout the period during which the school has been subject to special measures, and continues to do so. Teachers new to the school have understood and implement agreed teaching policies consistently. All teachers promote positive attitudes to learning effectively among pupils. Teachers in the Reception year have created an intriguing environment which invites exploration and engages the natural curiosity of children.

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The quality of teaching

Pupils now understand their own levels of achievement better as a result of the improved marking and advice which teachers provide. Teachers write helpful comments which explain how pupils can improve their work. Work in books shows that pupils are given the opportunity to use these comments to improve their work. This is leading to improvements in the rates of progress of pupils in their recent work. There is now evidence that pupils are receiving more help like this in all subjects. Help given is also more sharply focused on developing skills specific to the subject being taught.

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The quality of teaching

Teachers often ask pupils questions which enable them to check more precisely how well pupils have understood what is being taught. More-able pupils benefit from questions which challenge them to delve deeper in their pursuit of understanding. Effective questioning also enables pupils to reflect on the moral implications of their actions and those of others. Senior leaders have placed a consistent emphasis on training related to this skill.

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The quality of teaching

Teachers use information gathered from regular assessments when planning lessons. They identify how lessons are intended to help individual pupils. However, in some lessons, pupils are asked to do work which they can already manage with little effort. On occasion, pupils make mistakes in their work which are not picked up promptly enough by teachers. This limits the amount of progress made by some pupils.

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The quality of teaching

Support staff provide effective additional help and advice to pupils, especially when they receive clear and precise information from the teachers they work alongside. Their effectiveness diminishes when they have less precise guidance about their roles in lessons.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are considerate of one another. They demonstrate a sense of responsibility for their own behaviour and a consideration for the needs of others. Attitudes to learning are usually positive. Pupils demonstrate the same respectfulness towards all the adults who work with them and during all parts of the school day. Some pupils still begin to waiver in their attention and industriousness when work becomes either too easy or less inspiring. A very small number of pupils have behaved inappropriately since the last monitoring visit. Senior leaders have kept track of the steps they have taken to improve the behaviour of these pupils and support those who have been adversely affected by these incidents.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils continue to attend school well. Leaders have been successful in maintaining this good attendance over time.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Senior leaders and governors make sure that agreed policies intended to keep pupils safe and secure are put into practice consistently. The designated person for safeguarding has attended further training specific to her role. Additional safer recruitment training has been completed by some leaders and governors. Adults working in the school are clear about how they can help to safeguard pupils. Leaders make sure adults working with pupils assess potential risks posed by intended activities in a thorough and timely manner. The school’s policies and procedures meet statutory requirements.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Senior leaders continue to track how well pupils are learning regularly and extensively. They analyse achievement in great detail. They make sure teachers and governors receive and understand this information. Senior leaders also give teachers plenty of opportunity to discuss pupils’ progress with them at regular meetings.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Senior leaders check up on teachers in a systematic manner. They use the outcomes of these checks to decide on appropriate further training for individual teachers. This has led to improvements in teachers’ skills. However, senior leaders do not make enough reference in their evaluations to the impact of teaching over time on the learning of groups.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Middle leaders have had a greater influence on the strengthening of teaching and learning since the last monitoring visit. The leader responsible for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs has improved the way the impact of additional support for these pupils is evaluated. As a result, these pupils are making better progress. The leader for literacy has ensured that recently introduced teaching materials for reading are being used effectively. The leader responsible for computing and information technology is making the most of new technology to improve methods of sharing information. She has also taken effective action to ensure pupils know how to stay safe when using the internet.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The Chief Executive Officer of the Loughborough Federation of Schools provides regular support to senior leaders. This support has contributed significantly to ensuring that reasonable progress towards removal of special measures has been maintained between successive monitoring visits.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Parents recognise and appreciate the improvements which senior leaders and governors have helped to bring about since the last inspection.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Governors have continued to develop their skills and knowledge. They have focused wisely on improving their ability to use and understand information about pupils’ achievement. They have received further training to help them interpret numerical evidence. Governors have also been present as senior leaders very recently conducted a scrutiny of pupils’ work. This has helped them to understand how leaders use a range of different types of evidence to determine how well pupils are learning. They are now well equipped to ask appropriately challenging questions of leaders in order to hold them to account. Governors have a thorough understanding of their statutory duties in relation to safeguarding pupils.

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External support

The local authority continues to provide a helpful and motivating external view of school improvement successes. Governors have benefited from recent training provided by the local authority on the use of numerical evidence of achievement. The diocesan representative has worked with leaders to further develop the spiritual and moral curriculum. She also provides helpful pastoral support for leaders as the school continues on its journey of improvement.

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